A sleepless night
by KellyRSCA
Summary: A short piece on Bardock with his newborn son Raditz


Nighttime on Planet Vegeta. A certain low-class village bathed in the moonlight. Apart from an insect tjirping here and there, all was quiet. But in one particular house, that delicate silence was broken for what had to be the seventh time that night, by a high pitched cry.

Awakened by his newborn son's screams, Bardock groaned. The kid was only a week old, but in that short time he had not let his parents have even one solid hour of sleep. And to make matters worse, during the day he usually slept likea rose.

After waiting about a minute, Bardock opened his eyes. Their bedroom was pitch dark. The only light that came in were small bits of moonlight, from under the window's shutters. The sleeping silhouet of his wife Gine was barely visible.

Every time the baby had cried at night that week, she was the one who had gotten up to tend to him. Partially because she was the only one who could feed him ofcourse, but also because Bardock had told her he wasn't any good with kids, let alone babies. And Gine had, reluctantly, agreed. None the less she had gotten up every time without complaint. But this time it seemed that she did not respond to her son's cries. The newborn kept on wailing in the other room as Bardock shook his wife's shoulder.

"Gine...! Hey, what gives ? Wake up !" He tried waking his mate up, but to no avail. The only thing he got out of her was some incomprehensible mumbling. She was probably exhausted.

"Damn it..." He cursed silently, and covered his head with the sheets. For a few minutes he just lay there, hoping the kid would still shut up. But after a few minutes, he had to admit that there was no other way than to face the music and go check on the kid himself. So, much to his regret, he got up and made his way to the babyroom. In there, he put the light on and stould over the baby's crib, noticing that the little one had writhed and struggled so hard, he had covered himself entirely with his blanket.

Hesitantly, Bardock pulled the blanket away, revealing his son's face. For a second, the baby stopped crying, but soon started again as he recognised a face different than that of his mother's.

"Hey !" Bardock said with a lowered voice. "Could you please shut up so I can get some sleep too ?! You little -"

For a moment, the child had stopped crying. But as soon as Bardock stopped talking, he started crying even louder. If that was even possible.

"For fuck's sake, just..." Bardock sighed. he asked himself what he was even doing there. This was obviously Gine's job. And than he suddenly remembered something. He bent over the crib and copied what he had seen Gine do before.

He tucked the baby back in and tried shushing him. "Ssshh...Easy...uhm...Go back to sleep...Gods, I'm sounding like an idiot..."

It didn't help much, but it sure did something. Raditz calmed down a bit, his little tail curling up around his father's arm.

Bardock hesitated again, but he knew exactly what to do. He had seen Gine do this numerous times. So he put both his hands under his sons tiny body and picked him up, carefully cradling him in his arms.

"You got some nerve kid, making me do this..." He said as he studied his son's face. It was strange, but holding his offspring for the first time did something to him. The strange feeling crept over him and as he saw the infant growing more and more comfortable in his arms, he felt the corners of his mouth bend up into a proud smile. Suddenly, a voice sounded behind them.

"Would you look at that..." Gine had opened the door, standing there now as she watched Bardock tend to their son. "I knew you could do it..."

Bardock's eyes widened. "I thought you were asleep..."

"Well, you thought wrong." Gine snickered as she walked closer.

His jaw dropped as he watched his wife walk over. "You sneaky little -"

Gine down right ignored him and observed their son, caressing his little cheek. "I think someone needs a diaper change..."

Hearing those words, Bardock immediately handed the baby over to her. "There, I'm going back to bed."

"Oh come on daddy," Gine tried as bardock left the room. "It's only a little wee-wee..."

"Don't push your luck !" His voice sounded from the hallway.

Gine shook her head and smiled widely as she laid her baby down on the changing table.


End file.
